Bailey v. Banther

HARSHBARGER, Justice:

The Wyoming County Circuit Court ordered J.D. Banther to be evicted from a certain plot of land and found $4,000 damages against him for unlawful detention of the property, which was titled in Nelson and Mary Jane Bailey. Banther appeals.

J. Dillard Banther, Sr. allowed J.D., his son, to build a simple shelter on a two and one-half acre tract in Lilly Haven, Oceana District, Wyoming County, West Virginia, to house J.D., his wife and son. In 1968, after he was divorced and remarried, J.D. negotiated with his father to purchase the land for $365, and paid $165 down.1 At that…